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It’s also ok to be completely sober. In general if someone tells you they are sober it’s not a great idea to suggest they have a drink on occasion.
by shaunxcode 3y ago
It’s also ok to be completely sober. In general if someone tells you they are sober it’s not a great idea to suggest they have a drink on occasion.
- yurishimo 3y agoI think their point was to a more general audience not the gp in particular.
- klardotsh 3y agoAlcohol and caffeine are the only two drugs I can think of (okay, in some circles maybe cannabis too) where the response to "I cut this thing out of my life" is often "why?" or "you know you could still do a little?" One exercise to illustrate the ridiculousness and disrespect of phrases like that is to replace "alcohol" with "crack". "I don't do crack anymore" would basically never be responded to with "you know, you could still have a little crack every so often!", so what's the difference? Some folks don't do alcohol anymore. And whether that's for health reasons, for "I'm tired of dancing on the bartops" reasons, or just for "I got bored of the scene" reasons, that's their business.
- Moomoomoo309 3y ago"Alcohol is humanity's oldest friend. How could I abandon a friend?" - Yang Wenli The difference is the huge influence alcohol has had on all human cultures throughout history. Yes, it's poison, but it's our poison.
- CMCDragonkai 3y agoPlus 1 to the LOGH reference using it as if it was real historical person who said that.
- ramraj07 3y agoYep, carry a vice for long enough and it becomes a virtue. It takes a great mind to see this for the folly it is. So can't fault a normal person for not being able to.
- lm28469 3y agoI'll tell that to my alcoholic mom next time I'm home and she's done downing her daily bottle of wine, I'm sure I'll feel much better
- _yb2s 3y agoThat’s an absurd comparison… crack is no where near as harmful as alcohol
- klardotsh 3y agoYou had me in the first half, not gonna lie... :P
- deafpolygon 3y ago> crack is no where immediately as harmful as alcohol FTFY :P
- ffhhttt 3y agoClearly you’re bot talking about per capita harm?
- klardotsh 3y agoI don't know about "per-capita harm" but based on some loose research and opinions of doctors, alcohol is overwhelmingly more harmful overall (to self and to society) than anything else. The next drug on the list is heroin but it's not even close, followed closely by crack, and then crystal meth is an extremely distant fourth place followed by cocaine. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/206300#2 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/206300#2
- ffhhttt 3y agoIs that because alcohol is a magnitude or so more widely used than any of the other (hard) drugs we consider to be harmful? That article is vague and I don’t think the overall methodology is that good, however it does say: “ The most harmful drugs to the individual are heroin, crack and crystal meth “ if the same number of people who regularly consume alcohol chose to use crack instead.. well I bet the situation would be a whole lot worse.
- coldtea 3y ago>One exercise to illustrate the ridiculousness and disrespect of phrases like that is to replace "alcohol" with "crack". Or replace it with "oxygen" and see how ridiculous it is to suggest absteining from it. See how bad analogies cut both ways?
- klardotsh 3y agoYes, it's ridiculous to suggest abstaining from a thing that all known living entities on Earth require for sustenance. I'll give you a hint: that thing is not ethanol. And besides, nobody's saying, by saying "I don't do alcohol anymore", that YOU can't down all the Everclear you want, so I have no idea where this overly-defensive comment came from.
- coldtea 3y ago>so I have no idea where this overly-defensive comment came from. A, ad-hominem pop psychology, the hallmark of every good argument.
- hnick 3y agoThe difference is that it's legal and widely enjoyed by others. Cigarettes are too but there's been a widespread shift in public opinion meaning this doesn't occur. You'll sometimes see the same stuff said if someone announces they are vegetarian or made another dietary change.
- klardotsh 3y agoI did the trifecta in the past year of cutting alcohol (still on an indefinite break from that), caffeine (my 7 months sans-caffeine has now ended due to lack of many positive changes; may as well allow myself a Coke every so often if I want), and meat (3mos and counting), so yeah, I definitely get it. I've had inquisitive eyebrow-raises at all three, though fewer of them the more things I changed (folks just started assuming I was in a Trying New Things time, thankfully)
- hnick 3y agoOne thing I forgot, is the psychology behind it - it seems in my experience at least, people want people to enjoy things they enjoy. You get this with meat eaters telling vegetarians "just try a steak once to see how it is, it can't hurt", people asking their friends to drink or try drugs (or MMOs), or in my case seafood - hate the stuff, I think my genes are messed up meaning it basically tastes like garbage to me. But people that have known me for a while still ask me to "just try it". Anyway what I'm getting at, is they will be a lot more open to suggesting these things when the thing is legal, both due to pure numbers of fellow enjoyers you encounter but also social factors of being open about it. Up until they get used to your change, then they might stop.
- margalabargala 3y agoIn the case above, that's because it was invited. Saying "I cut this thing out of my life" is one thing, it's another to say "I cut this thing out of my life, and so should you". The former is a statement about one's own preferences; the latter introduces a conversation about how much of the thing should be in the lives of the people in the discussion. That's two people expressing opinions about how often the other ought have that thing in their life. The person who initiated that should know that.
- gcanyon 3y agoAs I explain to people when I tell them I'm life-long sober, "My dad drank enough for the both of us."
- HWR_14 3y agoIt's fine to be completely sober, and also fine to tell people you are. If you jump into a conversation about people drinking without hangovers to talk about how you have been sober and recommend others also become sober, then you have to expect someone to reply that moderation is better. Maybe not for the poster (whatever works for them, and if miduil had issues in the past congrats on overcoming them) but for average reader.
- thisgoesnowhere 3y agoI'm saying that I don't think we need to operate at the maximums and say all drinking is bad or drinking is only good. You can drink or don't drink I don't care. I'm saying that you don't need to feel bad about what you do as long as you like it.